


Act of Kindness

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 20:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16071152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: Sometimes, Dick hated how much his little brother loved him.





	Act of Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> Some self-indulgent crap. Sorry it’s bad. Based on ‘An Act of Kindness’ by Bastille. That song is Dick and Damian to a tee, and I wish I did it justice, ugh why do I suck D:

If he had to categorize the situation, he would say it was…very not good.

And it was about to get even worse.

They were stuck, he and Damian. Cornered against a wall, behind a dumpster. Gunshots were flying overhead. Bombs. Fire. He could hear their allies still in the fight, the sound of grunts, shouts of pain, splashes of blood.

He wished he could go to them, help them in any way he could – but he and Damian weren’t much better off. He couldn’t catch his breath, blood covered Damian’s face from a wound he couldn’t see.

He’d been just able to grab Damian and get him to safety behind this smelly wall before collapsing himself. His ankle was twisted. Sprained. Maybe broken. He didn’t know yet. But he couldn’t put weight on it. Couldn’t put weight on anything. Frankly, when he’d grabbed his brother and ducked behind the trash, he was trying to save his own sorry ass as much as Damian’s.

So here they were, cowering in the corner, and for the moment, he was okay with that. Let Bruce handle this, while he regained his breath. Regrouped a little. Maybe even took a nap.

It was too bad Damian didn’t quite feel the same. Apparently.

He was glancing over the wall, eyes darting across the scene. His chest was still heaving, blood still pouring out of wounds both big and small. He ducked once, when a shot came too close, and an explosion went off above their heads. Let Dick grab him and tuck him under his arm in protection.

Then: “I think I have an idea.”

Dick huffed. “I don’t care.” He glanced up into the smoke, watching debris fall around them, tangle in their hair. “We’re here until the battle’s over, kiddo. It’s our best move.”

“Maybe.” Damian admitted. “But they’re getting too close.”

“To who? They don’t know we’re back here.” Dick wheezed. “Bats and the others will get to them before they get to us.”

“Maybe.” Damian repeated. But suddenly, he was dragging himself out of Dick’s hold, going back to the dumpster. Not just to look this time – but beginning to climb over. “But my idea will protect you better.”

Dick’s heart dropped as Damian clung to the side of the can, and he shoved his foot against it for stability. He lashed out, barely getting a hold of Damian’s ankle before he scaled the over the top.

“What?” Dick whispered. “What did you say?”

“If they reach us here, I won’t be able to get you away to safety, and then we’ll both likely die.” Damian continued, tugging at Dick’s hold. “But if my calculations are correct, there’s an opening, and I can ambush them while they’re all distracted with the others.”

Dick yanked on his ankle harder. “And if your calculations are wrong?”

Damian paused, and Dick just now realized that Damian was purposefully not looking at him. “…Then it should at least get you time to get further away from the fight.”

“You’ll die, won’t you?” Dick asked sharply. Damian didn’t answer, so he squeezed harshly at his leg. “ _Won’t you?!”_

“…Maybe.” Damian said a third time, softer. “But the likelihood that I’m wrong is incredibly sli-”

“No.” Dick snapped. “Absolutely not.”

Damian huffed. “Grayson-”

“ _No_.” Dick repeated. “I’m not risking you.”

“Well _I’m_ not risking _you_.” Damian shot back. “Now, I’m less injured than you are, and the least preoccupied. I’m the only one who can do this, and this is the only shot we have.”

He tried to escape Dick’s hold. Dick stubbornly held on.

“Grayson, let me do this.” Damian growled.

“No.” Dick pushed. “Never. There’s another way. There’s _always_ another way.”

“If there is, we don’t have time to find it!” Damian snapped, looking down at him finally. “Now, for all the times you have protected me, for once in your ridiculous life, let me protect you!”

And god, his soul just hurt. The ferocity in his little brother’s eyes. The possessiveness. But most of all, the love. The complete and absolute love in those irises.

God, he looked just like Bruce.

“Let me do this.” Damian repeated, but softer. Dick shifted to try to stand, but winced immediately. Slumped back down as his body refused to listen to his brain. Damian gently tugged again. “Please, Grayson, let me do this for you. Let me return the kindness you have given me so many times, just this once.”

Tears welled in his eyes. “I’m not losing you, kiddo. I won’t. I…I _can’t_ , okay? I can’t lose you.”

Another explosion went off above them. Dick flinched downwards, and it was all the distraction Damian needed to finally pull free and out of Dick’s range.

“There’s a chance you won’t.” Damian hummed, eyes scanning the scene again. “But in case you do, you’ll still have Drake and the others.”

“Damian, don’t demean yourself here. Not to me.” Dick pleaded. “And you mean just as much to them as you do to me. They wouldn’t want you to-”

“Then, at the very least, my sacrifice will have been worth it.” Damian reworded. He glanced back down, smiling gently. “ _You_ are worth it, Grayson.”

Those tears overflowed now, and he feebly reached out again. “Damian…”

“In case I can’t say so later....Thank you for everything.” Damian whispered, and another crash went off elsewhere. “Thank you for letting me repay you this way.”

“Come back.” Dick sobbed. “Please come back.”

“I’ll do everything I can to.” Damian swore, and Dick could tell he was serious. That didn’t bring him any comfort, or hope, though. If anything it made it worse, because that meant that Damian was ready to die. And Dick absolutely was not.

Still, he didn’t get a chance to say anything else. Damian gave him a grin – soft, apologetic and confident. Then he was up and over the dumpster. Bleeding and hurting but jumping back into the fray anyway.

All for him. All just to keep him safe.

He heard shouts of surprise, of panic from his allies. He heard Damian’s battle cry, as he jumped into that opening he claimed he had.

He also heard him shout in pain and annoyance, as he was hit.

And Dick could only curl into a ball. Force his aching knees into his chest, and twist his fingers in his hair as he listened and sobbed and prayed harder than he ever had before in his life.


End file.
